- TEHRAN -- Israel must end
its military occupation of Palestine because that is the only way that
there can be peaceful negotiations that will resolve the longstanding dispute,
Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb said here last week.
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- Rabbi Gottlieb, one of the first ten women rabbis in
the history of Judaism, on May 10 visited the offices of the Tehran Times
and the Mehr News Agency, heading a delegation of 21 peace activists from
the United States.
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- The interfaith delegation included people of Jewish,
Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, and Indigenous religious confessions from
11 different U.S. states.
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- "It is important to remember that the Islamic world
has sheltered the Jewish people throughout our long history," Rabbi
Gottlieb said in an interview with MNA.
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- Following are some excerpts of the interview:
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- Q: You have visited many Iranian Jews during your trip.
Do they like living in Iran? What is your view of them?
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- A: I am the first woman rabbi to visit Iran. I had the
opportunity to visit and attend religious services at Tehran's synagogue,
with the rest of the members of this delegation as well, to visit the Jewish
hospital, and to hear from (outgoing Jewish MP) Morris Motamed and Siamak
Mursadeq, who is the future parliamentarian. Several of us also visited
the Jewish community in Shiraz and we also met a Jewish shop owner and
his son in Isfahan, and we also shared a meal with Mr. Mursadeq in his
home and had a lengthy conversation. And as well, we have visited the Armenian
(Orthodox Christian) religious community. For me personally, that was very
moving and very exciting.
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- It's important for us to know about this ancient Jewish
community (in Iran), which is the oldest community outside of Israel that
exists in the world, and has preserved the traditional ways of Jewish people,
and everyone that we have spoken to, whether they have visited Israel or
not, has affirmed that they have in Iran only some minor challenges, such
as the inheritance law. But we know that there is openness in the parliament
and with the Supreme Leader, and among the population, to resolve those
challenges... They are of Middle Eastern origin and have a unique perspective
to offer us in maintaining a good relationship with their Christian and
Muslim brothers and sisters and have been living in peace with their neighbors
for 30 centuries.
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- For much of the world Jewish community, whose history
often reflects the difficult times they have had in Europe, it is important
to remember that the Islamic world has sheltered the Jewish people throughout
our long history.
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- We are so saddened, not just as Jews but as Americans,
and in this I know I reflect the feeling of the whole delegation, at how
tragic and unnecessary the war and the American invasion of Iraq has been,
and we are deeply distressed at the destruction of the Iraqi culture and
people and we are praying for a speedy withdrawal of American forces from
Iraq.
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- (Here) we have eaten well, we have been graciously hosted,
we have loved the people of Iran, and we have had wonderful conversations...
This is a community that expresses many different views within the context
of a tremendous spirit of hospitality, which we have so appreciated. And
that is the tradition we share. Abraham was known for his great hospitality,
and in Jewish tradition this is the reason that he is known as a prophet
among us not only for his revelation of tawhid (monotheism), but also because
his revelation of tawhid and unity came with his extensive hospitality
to strangers. We also learned that it was Cyrus who returned the Jews first
to the land of Israel after they were first exiled and helped us rebuild
our temple there. He also wrote the first declaration of human rights in
human history. We honor the people of Iran for this advanced understanding
that human rights must be the heart of any religious expression.
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- Q: The 60th anniversary of the establishment of Israel
is approaching. Is it justifiable that, based on its past problems, one
nation should treat another nation in the same way as it was treated before
and create the same problems for that nation?
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- A: When I was 17 years old, I had the opportunity to
go to high school in Israel, in Haifa. And I also attended university there.
And since that time I have returned to Israel almost every year. Most recently,
in the past 12 years, I have led seven delegations from this organization,
Fellowship of Reconciliation, to Israel and to Palestine. The first year
that I was in Israel, I remember being very excited, of course, and driving
up the hill to Jerusalem, and seeing lights on the side of the road and
I asked Zev Vilnay, who was the grandfather of tourism in Israel, "Who
lives there?" And he told me those are Arab villagers.
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- And in my innocence and youth, I didn't know the history
of the Middle East. At that time I was anxious to learn, because from my
own history, both the Holocaust and knowing the loss of human lives there,
and the civil rights movement in Israel, and the struggle of African Americans
to attain human rights, and the genocide of Native American people in the
United States, which is an ongoing issue... Anyway, I went to see Mansour,
the Palestinian journalist... I went to his house, by myself, with my Israeli
host, who was my age. We knocked on his door, we were invited in, he served
tea, and I said, "I am here to interview Mansour." I had no appointment.
He was very shocked, but he granted me the interview. He said, "Why
do you want to interview me?" And I said, "Mr. Mansour, can you
tell me what it's like to be an Israeli Arab?" That was the term I
used. And he looked at me and he said to me, "Young woman, if you
want to know my story, I will tell you, but if I tell you my story, then
you will have responsibility for that knowledge." I said, "I
want to know your story." And he told me the story of the Nakba, of
the expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians from their homes, the destruction
of over 400 villages at that time in 1948. I was 17.
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- Since that time, 41 years ago, I have been working constantly
on raising up, in my own community and in the Christian community in the
United States, the desire of Palestinians for national sovereignty in their
own land. And in this period of time, earlier it was calling for negotiations
between the PLO and Israel, just as this delegation is calling... and in
this current time, calling for an end to Israel's military occupation of
Palestine as the only way that will allow peaceful negotiations and a settlement
between our peoples.
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- Q: How do you evaluate the role of interfaith dialogue
in achieving world peace?
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- A: This delegation represents the possibility of world
peace in the very nature of our coming together. We as a delegation travel
together in an interfaith context to promote the role of interfaith dialogue
as an invaluable resource in promoting peace. If we can travel together,
sit together, eat together, talk together, get to know each other, maintain
our unity, and learn from each other, this can be an example of the peace
that is possible, and we found this very much reflected in Iran. There
is freedom of religion here; we have discovered it in our travels. And
perhaps our work together can be an example and model of interfaith dialogue
on both the level of clergy or religious leaders and among the community
itself. We advocate both dialogue among people as well as leaders.
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- Q: Is there any way to stop disrespect toward religions?
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- A: The media in the United States, for instance, could
work a lot harder to promote religious understanding, especially of Shiism...
Personally, I don't think it's as much a problem of religions as it is
politics. Some people use religion to separate. Those of us who care about
world peace must lift up those things in our tradition that help us find
common ground. We are all cut from the same jewel.
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- After the events of 9/11, when planes were flown into
the World Trade Center Towers and the Pentagon, and there was a third plane
that did not reach its destination, the religious community in the United
States, all across the United States, reached out to the Muslim community.
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- In my own situation, my Sunni partner in dialogue and
I cofounded the Muslim-Jewish peace walk. Our idea was very simple. Pilgrimage
is common to the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths. Our idea was that
we should all dress in white, which is the pilgrimage garment, and carry
no signs except for peace, and walk in a peaceful pilgrimage from a synagogue,
to a church, to a mosque and to go inside as a religious community. Everyone
was invited.
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- We had the first peace walk in Mexico five years ago.
We had participation from the Jewish, Muslim, Protestant, Catholic, Hindu,
Native American, and Buddhist communities. Everyone came inside the synagogue
and offered prayers for peace in their own religious tradition, and then
we went to the masjid (mosque) and people went inside. So you can imagine
what it's like to be inside a masjid and have a Jewish rabbi and a Christian
priest and a Buddhist monk and a Native American spiritual elder and so
forth offering prayers in the mosque, in the name of peace. That also occurred
in a synagogue and a church, and in this way we truly enacted the idea
that all of us are one religion. While we respect the differences in each
religion, of course, is it not good to offer prayers for peace for each
other in our holy places?
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- This walk is in its fifth year, and it has spread to
16 different cities throughout the United States and Canada.
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- http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=168816
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